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What was in his hands?

Travel 19:09, 09-Nov-2026

CGTN

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These playful AI creations let the ancient pose inspire new stories. /CGTN

The bronze standing figure's hands leave room for a question: What might they once have held? The opening image introduces the mystery; the closing image invites your own guess. /CGTN

These playful AI creations let the ancient pose inspire new stories. /CGTN

An elephant tusk or a gold staff? These AI-created additions visualize two possibilities for the standing figure's hands; they are imaginative interpretations, not confirmed reconstructions. /CGTN

The bronze standing figure's hands leave room for a question: What might they once have held? The opening image introduces the mystery; the closing image invites your own guess. /CGTN

Two hands. One big mystery. What might Sanxingdui's bronze standing figure once have held – an elephant tusk, a gold staff, or jade ritual objects? Or could the pose itself have been the point?

We used AI to try a few possibilities; then we let our imaginations run wild. A towering ice cream? Saturn on a stick? A zipper that opens up the daytime sky, or an entire ocean in a takeaway cup? Swipe through, pick your favourite, or dream up something we missed. What would YOU put in his hands? Tell us in the comments!

The added objects are AI-created visual guesses, with a few playful flights of fancy. The mystery is still open.